


Our Common Wounds

by ElizaStyx



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A lot of comfort, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Feels, Healing, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, POV Alternating, Well - Freeform, if you watched it you can guess, spoilers for Civil War, tons of feels, tony feels always get me, was supposed to be more fluffy but well, wolf kisses, you ask me how can werewolf au contain spoilers for cw?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaStyx/pseuds/ElizaStyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony, a werewolf, has a wolf friend. Rhodey, also a werewolf, has a wolf friend too. In fact, they are each other's wolf friends. And obviously they have no clue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, it's been a while since I've been posting regularly and I'm sorry for that. To somehow help myself get my shit together I decided to first write the whole thing before publishing it to ensure it won't get abandoned because I hate that as much as you all do. So, the whole fic is actually written, it just needs rewriting and editing so hopefully I will manage to post a chapter daily or every second day at least. This fic is a way for me to cope with some of my Civil War feels and also partly the fault of [this masterful stucky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6772495).  
> The POV in this fic alternates between Rhodey's and Tony's but if it shifts, it's always after these *** guys. However, *** don't always indicate a shift of POV. Trust me, it's less confusing than it seems to be, I always make it obvious from whose perspective each segment is written.

Rhodey could remember the first time he met Smarty as if it was yesterday. Of course, back then he hadn't been calling him Smarty MacSass I - Smarty for short - just yet. It didn't start long after that though.

On that fateful day he was minding his own business as per usual, running through the forest in his wolf form, when he heard a very odd groan with a hint of squeal on top coming from the direction of the stream.

The source of the sound turned out to be a wolf. A wolf who got his left front paw trapped in a very simplistic rope trap that was probably meant for a rabbit. How the hell it had managed to get caught was beyond Rhodey's reasoning. What was even stranger though, the wolf totally freaked out. It was pulling at the rope, making it squeeze its paw even tighter, cutting the blood flow.

Rhodey bit through the rope before the wolf even fully realised it - **he** was no longer alone. It was a he, okay? Rhodey knew. And said he, suddenly left with a loosening loop around his paw, just looked at Rhodey as if he had grown a second head or more like nine of them, given how disbelieving he looked. Rhodey hadn't been aware that wolves could look so shocked.

Because well, that actually was an actual **wolf** and suddenly Rhodey hoped that a wolf couldn't tell the real deal from a werewolf because if so and if they happened to be natural rivals, then he was royally screwed. He could maybe fire a gun or take down a man or two with his fists but he wasn't exactly sure he knew how to use these fangs. He was a bit bigger and obviously the saviour here so he hoped that was enough to grant him safety. He certainly wasn't sure what was wolvish etiquette for times like these, which, by the way, was no reason to give him shit for. He had never met a real wolf before, they seemed to prefer staying away. Up until this moment, of course, and even now it wasn't exactly the wolf's choice to meet him.

However, if there was one thing Rhodey was sure of, it was that no wolf should be travelling solo. A lone wolf was pretty much a gone wolf. As in, gone forever, basically two paws already on the other side of the rainbow. He kinda wished that this wolf was some exception though. He kinda didn't feel like dealing with a whole pack.

He eyed the wolf, mentally preparing himself for an attack. They seemed to have reached an impasse just staring at each other in silence but then... the wolf gushed forward.

 _I'm gonna die!_ thought Rhodey, closing his eyes and curling onto himself, awaiting for the murderous jaws to close around his neck and crush his spine beyond the point of healing, when suddenly a very warm and wet tongue licked across his snout.

Rhodey opened one eye and whined with exactly zero dignity as the wolf basically toppled him over and started thoroughly licking his whole head, hovering over him like a very, very excited puppy.  
Was that a thing wolves did? Like wolf kisses, or something?  
Rhodey had no idea what was going on but it was... kinda nice. Sweet even. He would blush, if his body could.

Eventually he started gently pawing at the chest of the wolf, managing to make him stop for a moment. As Rhodey sat, he could finally assess his new friend. The wolf had silvery fur, was rather lean and his brown eyes shone as he titled his head, ogling Rhodey. There was something in his look that told him it wasn't just a one time thing.

It seemed like he found himself a companion.

***

There probably had been no single more humiliating thing for a werewolf than getting caught in a rabbit trap. And obviously exactly that had to happen to Tony. The worst part? He panicked and let the rope tighten around his paw so much that he couldn't change. Because you know, his human wrist was a bit thicker than his wolf one and he wasn't exactly sure werewolves could grow body parts back. He really didn't want to put that to test so instead he panicked some more.

Then a wolf saved him. An actual, big, wild wolf. With dark fur, teeth that cut the thick rope in one bite and eyes that bored into him expectantly.

_Shit, what did real wolves do under such circumstances?_

Tony was definitely not an animal behaviourist. He was not prepared for this so he went for the easiest solution - he decided to assault the wolf with love and somehow... it worked. He felt smarter than ever. Besides, he was thankful for real. If some human saved him in such a heroic way, he'd sure as hell kiss them. And then they would maybe sue him or punch him or both but now he was a wolf and the other wolf probably didn't know any lawyers and actually allowed Tony to continue showing his gratitude so it was all okay.

Even as he got pushed off, he wasn't quite done yet. He felt as if he owed the wolf. He sent him a meaningful look and then turned around to walk in the direction he was heading into right before he got himself into this situation. His newly found Bro hesitantly followed.

***

Rhodey wasn't sure if this was a good idea. However, his new friend clearly wanted him to follow and so he did. He sped up as the wolf disappeared between the bushes and almost run into him as he abruptly stopped about half a mile later. He tried to look as apologetic as a wolf could, when the other eyed him warily. He halfly expected a sarcastic comment. As if any of them could talk.

After a somehow meaningfully silent moment, they both turned towards what was in front of them. A small clearing. And a tent. Rhodey felt his pulse speeding up a little.

_Does he want me to hunt humans with him?_

The wolf grounded him with a stern look. STAY HERE it said.

_Does he want to kill a human **for** me?_

Rhodey shivered a little, paralised as his companion plastered himself to the ground and crawled out into the open. He watched with morbid fascination as the wolf sneaked along the wall of the tent towards what seemed to be a carelessly abandoned portable fridge. The wolf took a look around and nonchalantly tipped it over. He froze as a feminine laughter resounded in the air. It came from the tent. Nobody appeared in the sight. Rhodey put aside all the thoughts about what such laughter could indicate and focused on the wolf's actions. He had to focus twice because apparently his friend was now carrying the biggest can of spam Rhodey had ever seen.

With some sort of cheerfullness to his step he returned to Rhodey, not even trying to hide anymore. The people in the tent probably wouldn't notice him anyway. Rhodey eyed the gigantic tin lying in front of him as the wolf put it down like an offering.

_Why on Earth..._

He didn't finish the thought as the wolf opened the can. Rhodey felt his jaw fall down right to the gorund level in a very non-wolfish way as he saw him pull at the tab with his damned teeth and elegantly reveal the shiny, deliciously smelling block of spam. Rhodey could swear that the wolf was actually smirking.

 _Smarty Mc Sass._ he thought, gaping with unhidden admiration.

It kinda stuck.


	2. Chapter 2

The became best buddies, Smarty and him. Or maybe something else, something more wolf-y but obviously Rhodey didn't know the term, if there even was one existing in English language. For all it was worth, Smarty loved cuddling. He really, really loved it. So much that Rhodey feared he'd never be able to return to humanity even for a second.

Not that he was thinking about that for the whole day though; they were having so much fun, he couldn't focus on anything besides racing Smarty through the forest and then tackling him to the ground, maybe being a little boy once again but also experiencing something unlike any of his childhood memories. Who would guess wolves could be so affectionate? He could barely smell himself underneath all the layers of Smarty al over him. It was kind of embarassingly amazing.

In fact, he had been enjoying himself so much that the realisation dawned on him only after the evening came and he felt the tiredness of an overly active day deep in his bones. They found a somehow sheltered space underneath the roots of a fallen tree and tucked themselves there, curling up together to save the warmth. Rhodey supposed he could sneak out when Smarty fell asleep. For now, it was kind of too comfortable to give up on. Smarty nuzzled into his neck and stretched his paws out in front of him. The rope didn't seem to have hurt him visibly but Rhodey felt like licking the paw anyway. Smarty produced a sound that sounded a lot like a purr and Rhodey was once again really glad that he couldn't blush in this form.

He yawned as Smarty closed his eyes, huffing silently. He definitely needed to sneak out at some point. It was his last thought before he fell asleep.

***

Smarty wasn't there in the morning. Rhodey hadn't has such a confusing awakening in a while. He had slept for the whole night, was probably late for work and if his friend was still close enough to smell him, then he was in serious trouble.

He decided to follow the faint scent of the wolf anyway. It ended by the stream.

 _Did he want me to lose his track?_ Rhodey was equally puzzled and relieved. To be honest, he felt kind of sad too.

He decided he would look for him in the evening. Meanwhile, going through the water was actually a great idea. He run up the stream, towards his house.

***

He was only a quarter late. His boss sent him a strange look but didn't say anything.

***

In the evening Rhodey shed his clothes at the back of his house and shifted into his wolf form, finding the stretch of muscles rather comforting after a long day of work. He decided to bring almost two pounds of sausage with him. In case his friend showed up hungry or something. At least he really hoped he would show up.

Rhodey went down along the stream and his paws led him to the place they slept in the night before as if they had a mind of their own. He didn't give it much thought though because Smarty was there, clearly waiting for him and looking slightly apologetic. Probably as apologetic as a wolf could manage. Rhodey put the sausages down in front of him. They ate together and all of the wolf kisses he got later smelled of said sausage. Rhodey had no regrets.

***

Tony felt like shit for leaving like that but it had to be done. He did have a life as a human, after all. However, he still felt obliged to return to the forest as soon as possible.

He couldn't find even a single trace of Bro, the wolf disappeared in the thin air. Descending into a depressed mood, Tony decided to wait in the last place they were together in and he almost lost all the hope before he finally arrived. But once he did... He bore gifts. As if it was him who had more reason to feel guilty, not Tony.

Frankly, getting all this sausage must have been quite a complicated task for a wolf but his friend was apparently a miracle worker. And a literal saint too; he shared it with Tony. Or rather basically gave the whole thing to him. Which seemed like an odd action for a wolf to take. First he saved his paw, now he was feeding him... Maybe he could somehow sense that deep inside Tony actually sucked at being a wolf and tried to help keeping his miserable ass alive? Tony felt his heart swell with affection. if the disappearing act didn't bother his friend that much then maybe the could make it work...

He really, really hoped they could since that wolf was basically his only friend now and suddenly Tony remembered how it felt not to be lonely. He wanted to keep remembering.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting yesterday, the flu got the better of me.  
> Time for the shit to hit the fan, oops. Hope you read the tags.  
> I really am sorry.

The scent was unnerving. Tony sniffed the air and nudged Bro to do the same. For a while they both concentrated on trying to figure out what it could mean. 

In a week of hanging out together, they worked out a way to efficiently communicate. Tony was frankly mesmerised by how quickly Bro caught up with all the subtle hints he gave that he thought to be maybe a bit too human but a natural way of expressing feelings for him. Wolves were clever animals.

Bro didn't like the new scent either, a low growl rumbled inside his chest. Tony felt it rather than heard, standing close by his side. Something was coming their way and it was most definitely not a good thing. Bro's fur bristled as he growled again, now louder, his teeth bared in an expression more terryfying than anything Tony has ever seen before. The scent was surrounding them now, they didn't even need to sniff especially to sense it, it grew so much stronger.

Tony's heart was racing, part of him wanted to shift back to the human form just to stop smelling this, stop feeling their conjoined fear surrounding them both, making everything way scarier than it probably was. However, if the wolf was so afraid, then how on earth could Tony not be worried.

Part of him was ridiculously relieved when he finally appeared in sight. He was a wolf. Just a wolf perhaps but there was definitely something wrong with him. He was alone like they used to be but clearly he wasn't nearly as friendly as them. Saliva was foaming at the corners of his mouth, eyes twinkling unnaturally, his whole posture screamed feral. Dangerous. Tony shivered. They should _**runrunrun**_ and hope he wouldn't go after them.

He yelped to encourage Bro to just leave it, just go while they still could. They should split, confuse him, make him lose their track. Tony was smaller, the wolf should go after him and then he could shift and hide at home, maybe get hold of a rifle and shoot him to keep Bro safe.

Bro stepped between him and the wolf who was now starting to circle them.

 _You idiot._ thought Tony, panicking.

They shouldn't even consider fighting, Bro could get hurt, catch the disease from a bite and then Tony wouldn't be able to save him. He couldn't allow that. He pulled angrily at Bro's tail. Bro turned around to look at him, scoffed, indicated that Tony should run. Alone.

And then he was swept off his paws.

The attacker was big, fast, moving in a frenzy and with no fear. He pushed Bro straight onto a huge tree with his whole velocity before Tony could even blink. A terrible, ominous crack resounded in the air. With a terrifying certainty Tony realised that this was not a sound of the tree breaking. Like in a gruesomely slow-mo horror movie he could see Bro going completely slack against the solid trunk, sliding down to rest between the massive roots as the feral wolf bounced back to tower over him, growl while deciding where to strike first. How to finish what he started.

Tony froze, his heart stopping. Did his friend die just like that? In a blink, protecting him? Tony was a werewolf, he was the one with magical powers, **he** was supposed to protect not be protected.

Something inside of him snapped.

He threw himself at the wolf. The wolf who was half a time bigger than him and clearly didn't expect him to attack.

Tony had never killed in his life before. He hadn't hurt a living soul, he never even fought for his life, not really and not in this form. He learned a thing or two about wolves along the way and amongst these, he learned that Bro most definitely wasn't just a simple wolf. He never should have saved Tony in the first place and he most definitely shouldn't have died for him. Bro deserved so much better, he deserved a happy long life and Tony had never felt so much anger. He almost ripped the attacker's head off. Driven by rage, sadness and fear, he jumped on the wolf's back and closed his jaws around his nape, his supernaturally strong muscles and teeth crushing bones and nerves before the wolf could even react to the the assault.

The blood bursted with bitter taste across Tony's tongue, coppery, metallic, disgusting somehow even to his animal brain. The wolf went limp underneath him as he realeased his hold. He spat out as much of the blood as he could and stepped over the dead body.

He didn't want to approach Bro, didn't want to see him like this, learn that he maybe wasn't breathing anymore, wasn't going to let Tony snuggle into his soft fur ever again. However, if he still was alive, then every second could matter. Tony had to act. He took a step closer. Then another one. Step by step he crossed the distance way too quickly.

He held his breath as he watched Bro, hoping to see his chest rise and fall, when the miracle happened. Bro opened one eye. He was alive. Tony could breathe again.

 _Please, don't hate me for what I have to do._ he thought.

***

Rhodey couldn't feel a thing. It was even more unsettling than the fully expected pain. He got hurt, he knew that. Getting hurt should... well, hurt. He heard a growl.

_Smarty!_

He managed to open one eye. He had to help, had to fight, keep his friend safe. The wolf was dangerous, bigger, Smarty was afraid and... Right in front of him, blood all over his muzzle. Was it his? He didn't smell of hurt. So Smarty was okay and the other wolf... Dead, lying right there, the metallic smell filling the air somewhat triumphantly. But Smarty wasn't happy.

Rhodey willed his body to move. His front paws did but... his hind legs not so much. He remembered the crack. Huh, that was his spine then. Not good, it meant he was trapped. Trapped in this form until he healed. Unable to move and dependant on Smarty, a wolf who could as well decide he should end Rhodey's suffering since he couldn't know Rhodey would heal. Would walk again in a month or so. That is, if he survived the month as a halfly paralysed wolf.

He mewled, begging for his life.

And then Smarty shifted.


	4. Chapter 4

Rhodey should probably be more shocked but this actually explained a lot. Maybe everything even. Especially the reason why no wolf knowledge applied to Smarty and why they understood each other so well.

Oh, and he probably shouldn't call him Smarty now since he turned into a man with brown eyes, neatly trimmed facial hair and a significantly worried expression. However, the name still kind of actually fit, especially if you erased that last detail from the picture.

"It's still me." said the man in a calm voice. "Same old Tony. Sniff my hand, it's me."

Rhodey just looked at him and blinked slowly. He managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. So **Tony** didn't know that Rhodey wasn't just a wolf. To be fair, Rhodey hadn't know that Tony was a werewolf either but still, it was making this whole thing unnecessarily harder since Rhodey couldn't shift. He just needed some time to recover.

He sniffed the offered hand, no reason to make it even more difficult.

"Alright, alright, fine." Tony huffed and threaded his fingers through his hair; he looked a little on the crazy side, naked and with all the blood on his face. "I can't just leave you here." he reached out to touch Rhodey, probably from the habit to stay constantly in contact, but then he stopped his hand, hesitating right before touching his fur. Rhodey could feel the heat radiating from his palm. "I think I have to carry you, find a doctor, see what can be done." he slowly lowered his hand and patted Rhodey, possibly in an effort to calm both of them down.

Rhodey had already been calm in the first place but he allowed Tony to have his moment. It's not like he got used to his presence in his space and found it comforting or anything.

"I'll pick you up now." the man said after a while. "Trust me, okay? I cannot drive a car so deep into the forest, I have to carry you out of here." he pulled away and assessed Rhodey's whole body. The worry was still apparent on his face as he inched closer, ready to follow through with his plan.

Rhodey licked him. He did that before thinking about it twice; it just felt like a right thing to do. 

Tony looked at him with big, surprised eyes. Watery eyes. A tear made its way slowly down his cheek.  
"Why did you have to protect me?" he whispered. "You should have run, we both should have run."  
Rhodey licked the trace of the tear off his skin.  
Tony buried his face in Rhodey's fur, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed, a long, pained, inhuman howl leaving his throat. Rhodey wished he had hands to hug him back.

_I'm gonna be okay, stupid._

***

Out of all the impossible things that happened to Tony during all his years on earth, driving his car with a hurt wild animal on the backseat was probably one of the most unexpected. And definitely the saddest.

If not for his werewolf strenght, he wouldn't be able to carry his friend to his garage. He barely had the presence of mind to remember to wash the blood off and put on some clothes. Even after brushing his teeth he could still taste the disgusting copper on his tongue. He hoped it wouldn't stay with him forever. 

It was so odd that Bro trusted him even as he turned out to be a human in disguise. He was a clever wolf though so maybe he had always known that Tony was a fake. Tony only hoped that he wouldn't just snap out of this state in the animal clinic and hurt anyone including himself. Bro had all the right to be angry and upset. It was rather worrying that he seemed to be pretty apathetic. It couldn't be a good sign. Tony wished he could just undo everything that led to this moment, could push himself between the attacker and his friend. He wished he had had the guts to fight for someone who had grown to mean the most to him so quickly before their life was directly in danger. It was all his fault. Now he could only hope there was a way to fix at least some of it.

The animal clinic was closed at this hour but Tony had made a call and once the vet, admittedly grumpy, had heard about the case, he agreed to come. Tony told him that his wolfdog had been hit by a truck. He hoped the vet wouldn't find anything suspicious about the situation. He hoped he could help. Fix it.

***

The veterinarian was a tall guy with blond hair and kind, blue eyes. He held the door for Tony as he carried Rhodey in. Rhodey hoped this wouldn't turn out to be a mistake, there wasn't much he could do to protest. Every noise of distress he made was taken as either one of pain or fear.

The doctor introduced himself as Steve and he eyed Rhodey with concern as Tony put him down onto the examination table.  
"You said he got hit by a truck..." there was a question in his voice, a suspicion eve.  
"Yeah." Tony fidgeted. "I haven't seen it myself but I heard the crush and... oh God, it was terrible." his face twisted into a grimace of pain. "Please, help him, he's my friend, he's all I have, really."

Steve nodded slowly and put the gloves on. He palpated Rhodey's head, torso, belly, paws... Rhodey couldn't feel anything below the line of his last ribs.  
"No external signs of trauma." Steve frowned. "We need an x-ray."  
"He can't walk." said Tony quietly.  
Steve sent him a look full of understanding. Rhodey exhaled loudly, closing his eyes with tiredness. At least that Steve guy didn't seem to be half bad a person.

***

"The spine fracture seems pretty serious, I'm not gonna lie to you, mister Stark." Steve pointed at a certain point on the x-ray picture; Tony couldn't see anything there. "The chance he will walk again is little to none. I'm sorry." he looked genuinely sad and Tony's heart sunk probably a lot harder than it would, if he didn't look so sincere. "I suggest you leave your friend here and..."  
"No." said Tony firmly. "No, I will take care of him myself."  
"It's unadvisable to move him around too much." Steve furrowed his brow slightly.  
"Then make it as safe as it can be. I cannot leave him here, okay? He doesn't belong to a clinic. With all due respect, it's not a place for him." Tony made his best puppy eyes.

Steve looked as if he wanted to say something that Tony wouldn't like but he remained silent in the end. Tony was determined to take care of Bro himself. To not let him be trapped here, no matter how well they would treat him. Bro was a free being, he couldn't be put behind any bars. He was Tony's friend too, his responsibility. And his suffering was Tony's fault, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took more time than anticipated. The chapter is long and I lead a pretty stressful life these days so existence is kind of painful overall.

Rhodey was pissed. Not because he couldn't do anything about this situation, no. He was pissed because Tony was miserable, more miserable than Rhodey had ever seen anyone being, and he couldn't just tell him there was literally no reason to worry. Rhodey was certain his spine would recover, he had seen his father grow back a whole leg. Werevolwes were quite indestructible as long as their heads remained on their respectful places firmly stuck to the necks, and the breathing was still going on.

A werewolf was basically a walking set of useful mutations and puppy eyes thrown in as a bonus. Tony could pull off that look quite well, if Rhodey had to be honest.

Overly aware of Tony's misery, Rhodey decided not to make this any harder than necessary for both of them. He didn't make a sound of protest as Steve the vet put him into some sort of corsety construction that was supposed to hold his spine somewhat in place and together. It was most definitely not Rhodey's style but he could survive that, for Tony's sake.

To be honest, he was mostly just numb at the moment. The scratches and bruises had already healed, the rebuilding of nerves lasted longer than that though. He could probably expect quite a lot of pain coming his way soon.

Fighting always, ALWAYS turned out to be a bad idea.

He huffed softly as Tony lifted him once again and left the clinic, followed by Steve's concerned gaze. Rhodey was glad Tony hadn't chosen to leave him there. It would be kind of hard to explain his full recovery or escape the premises.

Tony took him home. It reminded Rhodey that he had left no note or any message whatsoever to his boss and friends. Knowing his luck, a missing person's report was already waiting to be filed. He just hoped they wouldn't decide to prematurely sell his house. Great.

Maybe he could somehow try to get through to Tony. Tell him he was a werewolf too. He was a smart guy, after all. Meanwhile, Tony carried Rhodey inside and instead of bothering with some makeshift nest of blankets, simply placed him on top of his own king sized bed. Rhodey almost drowned in the fluffy covers. He looked at Tony with slight confusion. Taking care of him and taking him to a doctor was one thing but having quite an underwashed wolf in an immaculate bed was something else.

Without saying another word Tony shifted.

Rhodey did miss his wolf mug but it was significantly harder to read than a human face. Plus Tony couldn't talk to him now, which kinda sucked since his voice was nice. Soothing even. Rhodey liked Tony's human form, it was a good form indeed. The only disadvantage was that Tony was far less cuddly and way more awkward as if fearing that Rhodey they wolf couldn't accept a human hug. Frankly, Rhodey loved all kinds of hugs. Tony looked like he could use some.

The silvery wolf hesitated for a while before jumping onto the bed next to Rhodey. His eyes were still very sad. Rhodey licked him and huffed reassuringly. It seemed to work, help Tony onto a path to somehow coping with this. He yelped a little and then tucked his head underneath Rhodey's.

_I'm sorry you feel so guilty about this._

They fell asleep together.

***

It felt weird not to wake up alone. Tony yawned and stretched his paws a little, basking in the warm of another body by his side.

And then he remembered.

His eyes fluttered open as he felt sick with all the guilt eating him up, even if Bro didn't seem to blame him for what happened. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, almost as if everything was okay. But Tony knew that nothing was, not really. He felt scarily close to crying. Again. The awful sounds of cracking bones still echoed in his head. He murdered another being in cold blood. To protect his friend but it still was too little, not enough.

He shifted into the human form and run to the bathroom to puke. Cold sweat covered his whole body as his insides turned and twisted painfully. He had to take a shower. He tried not to cry, he really did.

***

When Rhodey woke up it was to a gentle caress of Tony's hand stroking the fur behind his ear. As soon as he opened his eyes though, Tony took his hand away. Something sunk inside Rhodey's chest, he didn't want him to stop.

"Hi." said Tony hesitantly. "You should probably eat something, you must be starving. I'm gonna get you a breakfast and then... Then I'll try to help you. I have this idea how to get you going, alright? I can construct something that will help you."

Rhodey blinked slowly. Construct? So Tony was the elusive engineer the people in town talked about so much. They thought he was supsicious. Duh. Living alone so close to the forest, having this big house all to himself... They had thought the same about Rhodey, when he first arrived. Kinda funny how the werewolves stuck to a similar pattern though.

"Come on, I'll take you downstairs." Tony said, showing his palms to hims as if he expected Rhodey suddenly not to trust him. This stung a little. Rhodey bopped his nose against Tony's. It must have felt cold but Tony didn't even flinch. He actually relaxed visibly and picked Rhodey up with something akin to vigour.

In the light of the day Rhodey could fully take in the interior of Tony's house. It was designed tastefully, clearly planned thoroughly to be pretty modern and bright with wooden floors and white walls. He didn't know a thing about art but he probably could safely assume that the paintings he could see around should be telling him something more than the fact that Tony was far more educated on the matter than him.

Tony took him to what seemed to be a lab. Rhodey owned one beaten up laptop himself so his eyes went wide as he saw at least ten shiny computers on tall, white counters and loads of mysteriously looking parts lying around and piling up in the corners of the room. Oddly enough there was also a fridge there. And a chimney with a cosy armchair to match and a bear rug in front of it. It looked as if someone transplanted a part of completely different room inside of this one. Maybe it was some sort of a meditation space...

Rhodey felt extremely heavy as Tony placed him on the rug very gently. He looked down at his body. His hind legs lied at an awkward angle, it seemed like they didn't belong to him, not really. Tony adjusted them carefully and suddenly the full extent of his dependence hit Rhodey. He was so lucky to have Tony by his side, he'd be dead, if it wasn't for him. That revelation was a little overwhelming.

A bowl full of what seemed to be raw pork chop appeared in front of him and all the unpleasant thoughts faded as he realised just how hungry he was. He needed a lot of food, if he wanted to heal. Without further ado he pulled himself closer to the bowl and proceeded to stuff his belly full. Tony watched him for a while before disappearing behind one of the computers.

***

The task turned out to be harder than anticipated. As much as the concept seemed pretty straightforward on itself, the process of constructing something light, durable and well-balanced that also fit the specific needs of an idividual demanded a lot of dedication and effort. Both of which Tony could provide. The problem was, he didn't want to bother Bro too much and taking all the measurments meant lots and lots of bothering. Tony felt pretty shitty, waking the wolf up from what seemed like a regeneration nap. The wolf still didn't show any signs that he minded any of the things Tony was putting him through, not even a shave required for the electrodes to work, read the impulses straight from the intact parts of his spine.

Tony was lowkey expecting him to snap at any moment. A wild animal shouldn't be this patient but maybe... he just trusted Tony as a part of his pack. Even after everything that happened. It was breaking Tony's heart a little more, making him work even harder, aim for absolute perfection as he put the delicate electronics together, staying awake 'til the late night hours.

He noticed the sun rising behind the wall of trees, when he put down the screwdriver and raised his sight from the finished prototype that was hopefully able to let Bro walk again. It was only out of a deeply ingrained habit that he remembered to take his clothes off before shifting into a wolf and basically faceplanting by his friend's side, falling asleep before his body touched the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

Rhodey watched Tony sleep. It wasn't a calm, well-deserved sleep of a righteous man at peace; the exahustion was basically seeping off Tony's form, his face pulled in a grimace that probably would be more telling in his human form but still pretty clearly showed the level of his repressed misery. Rhodey's heart physically ached at the sight. If he could only tell Tony somehow that he was gonna be as good as new soon... However, nothing currently in his reach could serve as means to leave a message. If only there was some form of transport available to him other than Tony's arms or this very ineffective crawl that was basically useless on the polished wooden floors... He knew that Tony was working on something to help him with that problem. He hoped it would turn out effective, it could spare them both a lot of suffering.

Rhodey huffed, disappointed by the lack of some conveniently forgotten scrabble tiles; Tony's house was far too tidy for his taste. He lowered his head back onto his paws and exhaled heavily, trying to find some patience. He could tell the minor cracks in his spine have healed already,  if only the nerves could hurry up...

***

Tony was definitely faster than some axons. He seemed a little confused, when he woke up at about noon to Rhodey still carefull eyeing him. A little, affectionate nuzzle calmed him down though and he shifted to bring Rhodey some food. He didn't seem to have eaten himself and Rhodey found that a bit worrying. He had to push that thought aside, planning to get Tony to take care of himself later, as Tony disappeared behind the counter with determination.

And then reappeared with a handful of robotic-looking parts. As it turned out soon enough - Rhodey's new legs.

***

Tony could feel his anxiety growing to overwhelming levels as he slowly secured all the parts around Bro's legs and middle. He reduced the amount of them to the bare necessity to warrant as much comfort as he could, minimise the shock of such a big change. Wolves weren't exactly used to wearing anything, let alone an exo-skeleton but he hoped Bro would accept it once he understood it was letting him walk. He also tried to keep it as anatomical as he could, any inflexible parts or wires sticking out could pose a threat in the forest, making the wolf prone to getting trapped or stuck somewhere. It was quite a reach to hope that Bro would return to the forest but Tony had to keep holding on to something. Besides, it was actually possible. If only the skeleton worked at all.

Tony's palms were sweaty as he leaned back to ogle the final effect. Everything seemed to be in place just as planned. He had never been this nervous testing out his previous inventions for the first time.  
"You should..." he begun and gulped loudly, looking into the wolf's eyes. "You should try thinking of moving them." he made a vague gesture with his hands, hoping the wolf could understand.  
Bro turned his gaze away from Tony and then focused, or at least looked as if he did.

The machine came to life.

***

It felt like a massive cramp in all of his muscles at once. Rhodey couldn't help a yelp escaping his mouth. If wolves could sweat, he would be completely drenched by now.

Tony immediately appeared right in front of him, confusion and fear clear on his face.  
"What happened?" he asked as if Rhodey could just answer him. "You okay?"  
Rhodey rolled his eyes, his breathing beginning to slow down. He nudged Tony with his nose and then very, very carefully willed his knee to bend. It did. The movement was a little jerky but still... It was there.

_Huh, who would think that moving demanded so much brain power?_

Coming up with a sequence of contractions that would allow Rhodey to stand up was quite a challenge since his muscles seemed all to be separate entities and ones he couldn't quite feel but he clenched his teeth and somehow just did it. He was standing! He was!

Tony's eyes went big as saucers and Rhodey allowed himself to smirk a little. Immediately he crumbled down to the ground in a heap of limbs. So apparently he had to keep concentrating for the tension in his muscles to stay. Crap. Why couldn't anything ever be easy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the remaining chapters are pretty short so fingers crossed for frequent updates ^^


	7. Chapter 7

Rhodey figured it would all be way simpler, if Tony build him just this sort of little wheely he had seen old or sick dogs have. However, he also figured out quite soon that Tony was an ambitious overachiever so no half-measures were even to be considered. Clearly, Tony's aim was to enable Rhodey to run through the forest once again as if nothing bad had ever happened and to be honest, Rhodey didn't think he deserved this much attention and care. Tony didn't seem to give a damn about anything but Rhodey's well-being and while all the affection was admittedly pleasant to bask in, Rhodey also kind of wished the ground could open up and swallow him whole. He just wasn't used to being the center of anyone's attention, alright?

Besides, the whole situation was somehow growing to be frustrating as Rhodey was making a very slow progress learning to walk and Tony kept spending nights improving the exo-skeleton. Okay, maybe the constant itch of the nerve repair wasn't helping Rhodey's irritation either but still, he felt stuck in his miserable attempts and Tony... Tony had visibly lost some weight, as if Rhodey taking his first steps only made him feel more guilty against all logic. Rhodey really **had to** tell him to stop with this self-punishing bullshit.

He waited and waited and finally one morning an occasion presented itself. Tony was eating cereal. It was basically the only thing Rhodey had seen him eat over the course of his reconvalescence. However, that faithful morning Tony had left the open box on the counter as he went out to the toilet. Rhodey couldn't let this chance slip.

With all of his willpower he forced his legs to bring him up and hold him steady as he leaned against the counter and pushed the box off, letting it fall to the floor. All the tiny golden rings went in every direction, littering the kitchen. Rhodey didn't have the time to assess the mess.

_Quick! A message!_

He started frantically pushing the cereals around with his paws but the rings were so small and didn't wish to herd the way he intended them to. He let out a frustrated groan.  
"I'll be fine, I'm a werewolf" he wanted to say. The final result was... Well...

**III BFINF IM WERFWOLT**

It seemed to be close enough. Had to be.

And maybe it even would, if only Tony hadn't stepped right into the laboriously created message first thing after entering the kitchen.

Rhodey groaned in irritation as his hind legs gave up on him. Tony looked even more miserable than usual, standing in the middle of the whole cereal disaster.

***

The next time Rhodey got a chance was when Tony left him in the lab with one of the computers working. Climbing onto a stool was definitely not an easy task but after three attempts he managed to lift himself up. There a new obstacle appeared - wolf paws were apparently not meant to type on any sort of keyboards. At least Tony had opened up some sort of program editor before wandering off. Rhodey couldn't imagine operating the mouse or the touchpad.

He managed to type

oim A WQEWRE

before Tony came back and outright shrieked, running towards him as if Rhodey playing around with the keyboard could make something explode. Which was super weird because he couldn't, right? It would be pretty ridiculous, if he could, seriously.

Tony didn't even look at what he wrote, he just deleted everything, closed the editor and eyed Rhodey with horror. Rhodey supposed he had literally no reason to look as sheepish as he did. He didn't  do anything wrong. He did not!

Unless making Tony distressed was breaking some laws, of course. Then he probably deserved a life sentence. Which he kinda hated a lot.

***

He hated it even more, when Tony once again let him sleep in his bed and curled around him strangely fragile in his human form, for some reasong giving up on experiments for one night.  
"I know you probably feel trapped here." he said silently. "I know you're unhappy now but I'll make it work for you, okay? I promise you'll be free again soon." he buried his fingers in Rhodey's thick fur, holding onto him as if he feared Rhodey would want to flee, push him away.

Given that Rhodey could feel the heat of Tony's body against his **whole** back now, he definitely was going to be free soon. Even if the wait was meant to be filled with the dull pain radiating into his belly growing stronger, mirroring the constant ache in his chest blooming every time he looked into Tony's sad eyes.

"It's no surprise I have no friends." Tony whispered. "You were my only one and look what it did to you."

Rhodey wondered what god could think that creating wolves with an ability to cry was a good idea.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony must have screwed something up. He kept working on the skeleton but not only the functioning didn't seem to become any easier for Bro, he also seemed to be more and more reluctant to try and excersise. As if he had lost all the hope and slowly begun giving up.

Tony wished there was a way for them to communicate more precisely than with touch. The wolf kept trying to reassure him as if he knew how shitty Tony felt but clearly something was not okay with him too. Doing some research, Tony had learned that trapped wolves could develop actual depression akin to the one people experienced and he grew more and more worried each day he observed Bro closing up on himself, suffering in silence.

That was why he finally decided to take him outside. The wolf couldn't walk too well on his own yet but maybe if he smelled the fresh air, he would gain some more motivation to try harder. Tony carried him down the stairs and settled carefully on the grass in his garden. Bro didn't look too thrilled, his level of excitement remaining seemingly the same as per usual. Tony sucked at this so much.

"Come on." he said. "I know it's pretty selfish of me to ask but I'd feel so much better, if you tried one more time. I worked the whole night, I don't think I can make it any better than it is now so you know, last chance." he lowered his gaze and sighed. "Maybe it's stupid to hope but I only want to see you happy again one day."

***

This was unfair. So, so unfair. Rhodey's spine was literally on fire, the feeling returning at full force now, and Tony was begging him to move and not show how much it hurt to even think about using his limbs.

And yet Rhodey couldn't just watch Tony's hope crumble like this. Somehow seeing him suffer was far worse to endure than his very own, physical pain. He stood up.

Rhodey's biological efferent impulse transmission wasn't working yet, he could only feel the exo-skeleton against his skin, sparkling needles of pain travelling through his bones and fragile, brand new nerves. It was far worse than getting constantly electrocuted. He would know.

Rhodey clenched his teeth and run.

He run as if he could escape the horror of his own screaming body, of Tony growing miserable in his company, of them both losing the easy, happy parts of what they shared. He run and he didn't miss a step even once, determination chanelling his focus on making the muscles work smoothly like they haven't in quite some time.

He circled Tony and watched a smile slowly spread across his face. A genuine, wide smile, something he had never actually seen on Tony before and even though the edges of his vision blurred a little and he felt lightheaded as the pain slowly begun to take over, his heart fluttered happily. He took a leap of faith and landed on top of Tony to lick his face as he laughed until he cried, holding Rhodey close, the warmth of his embrace somehow taking the burning, ugly pain away.

***

"I feel like you understand everything I say." said Tony that night, petting softly the fluffy fur on Rhodey's chest.  
Rhodey hummed a little, his eyes firmly shout as he concentrated on feeling Tony's caress rather than the sharp stabs in his spine.  
"Maybe it's weird but you seem more human than some people I used to know." Tony continued. "I wish you could talk, then we could discuss anything and everything and you would probably disagree with me a lot and be my voice of reason, stopping me from blowing myself up one day." he sighed but not without some contentment.

Rhodey opened one eye and snorted in agreement.  
_Yeah, you bet. Because for an alleged genius you are sometimes pretty dumb.  
_ He himself totally would have guessed that Tony was a werewolf, were their roles reversed. Come on, it was pretty obvious. He would never have missed the message in cereal, for instance. He could bet on that. He was super attentive.

"I really do love you." whispered Tony. "You matter to me more than anyone ever had."

Rhodey hoped that Tony couldn't feel his heart skip a beat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have a test on Wednesday morning, I cannot exactly promise an update tomorrow (sorry about that) but what I can promise is a little something special later on. More details in the next chapter notes so stay tuned. Also, we are nearing the end ^^


	9. Chapter 9

Something was not okay. Or different, at least. It was still pretty dark in the bedroom but Tony willed his sight to focus and unblur. There was no familiar dark fur of Bro anywhere to be seen, just a great, glorious expanse of dark skin belonging to a naked man peacefully sleeping in Tony's bed.

Tony decided it was the right time and a reason enough to start screaming.

He shrieked, clutching his pillow to his chest in a positively comical display of terror. Not that he had anything against naked men in his bed. He just kind of really hated surprises and this... this definitely qualified as one hell of a surprise.

The naked man was startled right into consciousness and blinked at Tony with confusion, his eyes big and soft around the edges from the sleep. And very, very familiar.  
"Oh." he said and looked down at his own palms. "Oh."

***

"Why haven't you told me earlier?!" Tony pulled at his hair, clearly flushed and embarassed even as they both had some clothes on now and moved to the neutral space of the living room where Rhodey sat down and Tony could freely pace.  
Rhodey couldn't help making his best bitch face.  
"I was trying." he said. "But you stepped on the cereals and deleted the computer file."

Tony stopped his nervous rounds for a while.  
"Those were messages from you?" he asked weakly.  
"Yes, you dumbo." Rhodey exhaled heavily. "Look, I really tried everything I could. It's not exactly like I had too many means of communication with you. I really wished you knew I was a werewolf so you wouldn't be so... miserable all this time."  
"I thought I got you paralyzed for life. If we were real wolves, you'd be worms' food by now and... it really got to me, you know?" deep sadness reflected on Tony's face again. "You really a... were my best friend." the blush on his cheeks deepened.

"Were?" Rhodey looked at Tony intently. "So now I'm not?"  
"I mean..." Tony stuttered. "I kind of almost got you killed, then I put you through this whole exo-skeleton deal while you just needed to rest and... oh god, it hurt, didn't it? You were regenerating and I made you push yourself..." for a change, Tony's eyes widened in horror. "I'm so sorry."  
Rhodey stood up, shaking his head a little.

"First of all, I wouldn't regret dying while protecting you. And you... You killed protecting me, you took care of me, not knowing if I would even accept your human form. You respected the fear I was entitled to, you worked day and night to give me back what was taken from me, even though it wasn't your fault. You were beating yourself over this, even though I never showed a sign I was blaming you for what happened." he took a careful step towards Tony. "I've only shown you love and affection, both that you deserve, and you still think you can't really call yourself my friend?"

Tony looked completely lost, as if these words didn't really make their way into his brain.

"So what?" Rhodey inched closer just a bit more. "Now that I can talk, can tell you how dumb you are being, we can finally discuss anything and everything we wish to, and I can be your voice of reason... now you don't love me anymore?"

He locked his gaze with Tony's, knowing that now he couldn't run and hide behind his own misery as Rhodey took it all out and decomposed, crushed with the simple truth that they meant the most to each other now. There was no doubt there.

"I-I..." Tony stuttered, trembled a little and then just threw himself against Rhodey, wrapping him up in a crushing hug. "I do." he yelped, sounding really teary and emotional.  
Rhodey smiled fondly, embracing him to rub small circles into his back as he shook, sobbing violently and then slowly beginning to laugh through the tears.

Eventualy he calmed down and pulled back a little to look at Rhodey, his eyes sparkling more lively now.  
"Actually, we both are pretty dumb." he said. "You haven't figured it out either until I shifted in front of you."  
"Yeah." Rhodey nodded, not even pretending to disagree. "Yeah, we are."

After all, that was probably why they found each other in the first place.

~fin~  
(or is it?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I planned to end the fic here but during the process of posting one more chapter just... happened as an epilogue of sorts because, you know, my fics are all mostly a happy accident. So anyway, stay tuned for the super sappy bonus coming very soon!


	10. Epilogue: A Few Weeks Later

Rhodey was sitting on the porch of his fortunately unsold house, tying his shoes, when he heard a twig snap. He jerked his head up and immediately spotted Tony, sneaking up on him in his wolf form. Rhodey rolled his eyes, hiding a smile.

"Well, hello to you too." he said and sighed for a better effect.  
Tony tilted his head to the left, his tongue hanging out a little. He looked pretty smug for a wolf.  
"I suppose this means you won't shift just for the convenience of having an actual talk?" Rhodey raised his brows.  
Tony cocked his head to the right.  
Rhodey sighed once again and leaned down to finish tying his shoe.  
"Guess I won't shift either then." he shrugged and stood up.  
This time it was Tony who rolled his eyes.

Eventually, before the silence prolonged, he decided to show the way nevertheless. He turned around and run for the woods, not really waiting to see if Rhodey went after him; he knew Rhodey would. And so he did. At first he had no trouble keeping up with the wolf, the way clear before him but then it seemed like the path Tony picked was becoming suspiciously harder for a human to follow. Rhodey clenched his teeth, deciding not to shift, just for the sake of sheer stubbornness. Even if Tony was being an ass about this on purpose. **Especially** if that was the case.

Soon enough it became clear that Tony was most definitely trying to escape him, manouvering through the narrowest gaps between the trees and jumping over wide trenches. Rhodey kept pushing his human body but to no avail. A couple of minutes later, Tony's tail stopped reappering after every turn they took. He lost him. Rhodey huffed with frustration and slowed down not to trip on the uneven ground. He swore loudly as a wild raspberry bush tangled around his leg and ripped a hole in his pants.

Fucking Tony and his little games. The asshole was lucky that Rhodey loved him too much to actually murder him.

Swearing some more and regretting not taking a machete with, Rhodey slowly made his way out onto a clearer path. It looked somehow familiar but he couldn't quite place it until it opened up onto a clearing. The one Tony and him had spent their first night together on, sleeping under the roots of a fallen tree. Rhodey realised that Tony had made them run in circles until Rhodey lost him. It was pretty odd but Rhodey stopped questioning Tony's ideas some time ago.

Besides, there was a red rose waiting for him underneath the tree that once had been their shelter. It gave him a pretty good idea what all of this could be about. He picked up the rose and immediately spotted another one on the other side of the clearing.

So a path of roses... Tony just had to go big (and sappy), no matter what he did. And yet, Rhodey found himself following the trail of flowers with a smile, picking them up as he went. He jumped over the familiar stream and almost tripped in the mud upon landing but other than that, he experienced no troubles and didn't see even a trace of the wolf, heading straight towards Tony's house. He was in no hurry. He figured that since Tony could play him like that in the forest, then he deserved to stew a little in his own juice, waiting for Rhodey to appear.

And stew he did, judgning by the momentum he opened the door with, when Rhodey finally knocked.

Despite having quite a lot of time to prepare, Tony's hair was still a messy, beautiful tragedy, his white shirt wasn't completely buttoned up and his eyes twinkled wildly as he clearly buzzed with nervous energy.

Frankly, Rhodey was amazed by his own calm. He always thought he would freak out, if something like this happened. **When** it finally happened. He had been pretty confident it was meant to happen one day, Tony just needed some time to come around and Rhodey chose to let him do this on his own terms. He could wait, he was a patient man.

And now said wait led to Tony rushing him inside and then immediately losing all the anxious energy, going from frantic to sheepish and uncertain over the course of a second.

"So..." Tony begun and huffed, bracing himself for something indefinite but decidedly not good. "So... I hope you like roses." he gestured vaguely towards the bunch of flowers Rhodey was holding. "I kind of wanted to this for a long time no, you know. Ask you out. But you see, it's actually not that simple and I thought I had to make this realy special and roses are beautiful and you planted some in your garden so..." Tony started rambling, deliberately not looking at Rhodey, blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

Rhodey didn't facepalm only because he was still holding the flowers.

"Tony..." he said softly.  
"...and you told me your mother also loved roses so I thought..." Tony kept going on, lost in his nervous rant.  
"Tony!" Rhodey raised his voice.  
"It was a natural choice and I just... yeah?" Tony finally snapped out of it and looked at him, his gaze still a little absent.  
"I like roses." Rhodey said firmly. "I truly do. But I'm not here because I feel strongly about some flowers. I'm here because I feel strongly about you, you fool."  
"Oh." Tony noticed cleverly.  
"That's right, oh." Rhodey nodded and dropped the roses to step above them and finally, finally kiss Tony properly, lips on lips, the beard underneath his fingertips so very human as he caressed Tony's cheek.

All in all, it was totally worth the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it folks! I hope you enjoyed this ^^ If you did, don't forget to leave me some kudos ;) Also, this fic begs for fanart so if you feel like drawing some wolf cuddles, I'd be extremely happy to include it here <3

**Author's Note:**

> The fic aesthetic can be found [here ](http://the-rising-demonmistress-of-styx.tumblr.com/post/145675186970/our-common-wounds-9892-words-by-elizastyx)


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